In Thursday's paper, Washington Post media reporter Paul Farhi noticed the media have a shorter “attention span” on the Navy Yard shootings – mentioning how ABC seemed more interested in Britney Spears performing in Vegas.
But when it came to reasons for the media’s “ennui,” Farhi didn’t list faded Democratic hopes for gun control, the lack of an obvious political motive, or the vague sense that Navy workers were part of the military. He found an “eminent criminologist” to suggest "white America" (and the media that serve them?) was somehow racist in not being fascinated by black mass murderers. They find white villains more intriguing:
He was also African American, and this apparently matters, says eminent criminologist James Alan Fox. “It’s not nice to say it, but white America tends to be more intrigued about the minds and motives of white murderers,” said Fox, who is a professor at Northeastern University. “There have been black [mass shooters], but it’s hard to remember who they are. The D.C. sniper is an exception.”